The world is strange. Really strange. Stranger than most people realize, for sure. But the human mind is amazing at one thing; denial. That wasn't really a fairy you saw, it was just a flashlight, or a camera, or swamp gas. That wall wasn't torn down by a rampaging troll, just some drunk in a truck. That wasn't really a fireball, just... gas, and a lighter.

But some people know the truth. Some people have seen that wild side, and can't deny it, while others are born to it, live it every day. There are dark things out there; monsters and worse, that only see the human race as cattle, as prey. Some things go bump in the night... while others are out there, to bump back.

It's a dangerous job, but somebody has to do it.

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The Dresden Files is a series of noir-style detective novels about a modern wizard in Chicago, who takes on cases for people to handle the paranormal. Working with a wide assortment of colorful characters, including the short, fierce cop, Murphy, the holy-sword wielding paladin, Michael, and the endlessly intelligent talking skull, Bob, Harry Dresden, the narrator and protagonist, embarks on wild adventure after adventure, facing everything from vampires, mad wizards, demons, and even the law enforcement of the magical realm. And that's just the first book. Embracing the mythology of the world, facing down realistic and utterly inhuman creatures, and daring to spit int he eye of anything that threatens him, this is a fantastic fantasy series.

But, I'm not here today to pitch this series to you (though you should go read it, if you haven't.) What I am here to pitch, however, is a game, set in a parallel universe to this setting; as I'm not much of a fan of canon characters, and a lot of potential heroic characters are one-of-a-kind jobs, it only seems fitting. What I propose here is a group based game, of heroic (or at least, out to save their own ass) characters, set in the City of Sin itself, Las Vegas, combating the wicked forces of the unknown who might want to use the vast energies swirling around the entertainment Capital of the World, or prey on the unsuspecting in this city, where night never truly falls.

What I'm looking for is a small group of characters, designed using the Risus system (an extremely simplistic, near freeform system), that fit within this world setting. Characters drawn from popular mythology are generally found here; for those unfamiliar with the setting, you could use things such as wizards, faeries (and not the pansy kind, either; we're talking the kind that steal children and rampage murderously and play politics on a level humans never dream of.), White Court vampires, more commonly known as succubi and incubi, or even a badass normal, like a cop, who is aware of the supernatural. Players familiar with the series might consider characters more unique to the setting, such as the Summer/Winter Knight, or a Knight of the Cross, or a Warden. I plan a mix of investigation, social encounters, and outright combat, so be prepared for all of it.

For character building, apply 15 skill points. For magic use, divide it into basic school types; evocation, or blasty-magic, transmutation, or the changing of objects; what Dresden specializes in, and illusion/enchantment, such as veils or compulsions; this is a specialty of faerie and vampires. Other magics might be appropriate as well; speaking with the dead, luck manipulation (it is Vegas, after all), card magic, and so on. Keep skills fairly serious, despite the tone of the system. For example, a wizard might have skills with Evocation, Illusion, and Running, while a cop might use Martial Arts, Firearms, and Athletics.

As far as sexiness, it'll mostly depend on player interest. I definitely have a few ideas for how I want to take this, based on party makeup. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here or send me a PM; I'm glad to talk about it!

P.S. Keep spoilery discussion to a minimum; I know some people might want to read the series, and don't need spoilers in this thread. If you're not sure it's a spoiler, it probably is, but a general guideline would be avoiding talking about endings, or any character added to the main cast past book 4.

Description: Short and stocky with dark hair, a perpetual five o'clock shadow, and scarred knuckles. Tends to wear nice suits that he mistreats, leaving them wrinkled and occasionally stained. His voice is rough and low, like he's been gargling with Jack Daniels and gravel, which might actually be the case. As a vice detective, he likes the seedier side of Vegas, and while he doesn't take illegal drugs, he is fond of drinking and prostitution, so long as he's not paying for it.

Okay, I don't have a name yet, but I'm figuring a female wizard, who's had a few issues with the council, but they haven't pinned anything on her as of yet. She mostly is a drifter, seducing and sleeping with various women for places to stay, and taking odd jobs while she's at it. As for skills...tell me what you think.

No; I sort of gave everyone a leg-up, anyway, with the higher starting skill totals, and I plan to but you through the ringer soon enough. If you'd LIKE to volunteer a background I can use to torment your character with, by all means, be my guest. I'm all too happy for more fodder.

Risus is really simple. Define your character by a handful of cliches, like I did upstream. Each point is equal 1 die. You want to do something, pick the cliche that fits best, roll that many dice, add 'em together vs a difficulty the GM sets. In combat you roll against the opponent's roll. Loser loses one die from their stats to represent wounds, fatigue, whatever.

Kincaid's a badass, but honestly, Edward's cooler if we can draw inspiration from other fandoms.

He could be a member of the Venatori. Harry describes them as being "like the Masons, but with flame throwers."

Edit:

And the nice thing about Risus is that different abilities have the same sort of Narrative Weight.

Let's say you want a team where one person has The Last Son of Krypton as is 5 die trait, and someone else has I'm Batman as his 5 die trait. Both those traits are equally valid and powerful, they just apply in different situations.

I will say that I fully expect at least some understanding of the series; while I'll try to avoid outright spoilers (pretty easy, since the majority are character based, and we're not going to have any canon characters), I'll be making references to things and not explaining them, so wiki use will be expected if you can't remember. =P

Even if you've not read the Dresden Files and want to play, you'll need to be aware of how the White Court vampires work, be aware of Wardens and the Laws, etc.

Description: Carmen is tall, thin, and like most of her kind, drop-dead gorgeous. The Rosewater house is a rather small one, as far as vampiric houses go, and as a result she does most of her work alone. Her age is nearly impossible to tell- anywhere from late twenties to early forties. She has long, silver hair, expressive red eyes, and knows how to carry herself to attract attention. She prefers to wear tight leather to show off her curves, but can be seen in provocative, albeit fancy dresses when she attends upper-class social functions. Her ears bear silver earrings, and a silver stud decorates her bellybutton.

She prefers to feed off lust, but sometimes has a taste for darker emotions- anger, fear, and, all-too-abundant in Las Vegas, greed. All of her feedings are one-time things, as she doesn't want to end up killing anyone. Her self control has been known to waver, though.

Though it would be all too easy to dupe rich men into giving her money, she prefers to earn it, citing that its more 'satisfying.' She gambles, and cheats shamelessly by using her abilities as a psychic vampire to 'taste' her opponents feelings during a hand.

Since he's only human I decided on more cliches, but less powerfull ones.

Name: Answers to Blake.

Bio: If pressed, Blake would, with a wry smile, tell a story .. all hypothetically of course .. of a young man, a little too cocky for his own good, who tried the wrong thing at the wrong time on the wrong people, and ended up with a choice .. jail time, or join the military. He elected to join the Marines, perhaps having seen one war film too many. To everyones surprise, not least of all his own, he proved an outstanding recruit. By the end of his first tour he had attained the rank of Sergeant, and transfered to the SEALs, where once again he excelled. Unfortunately this promising military career was cut short by a terrible accident, with a helicopter going down due to a mechanical failure, killing all those on board.

For the best part of the next 10 years, an entirely different person served in an agency that doesn't exist, and did things all over the world that never happened.

Deep in a god forsaken stretch of south american jungle, he and his team ran across something else that didn't exist. Five days and nights of running fights saw a single survivor taken back to the lair of the things that didn't exist, where he was, of all things, offered a literal once in a lifetime opportunity.

He told them where they could shove it.

At that point all hell broke loose. He has memories of more running and gunning, and ended up being evac'ed by a rather strange group, who passed him along to colleagues of theirs. Some rather stuffy old men who knew entirely too much of what was and wasn't real explained a few things to him, and he signed on. The suits were good with the law and computers and dusty old books, but there were times what was needed was something a little less subtle and a little more direct.

Talking with Myr about this I have to play, if only because of the ideas we were bantering back and forth about.

Beatrice St. Croix, Warden of the Council

Beatrice seems somewhat out of place in Las Vegas, being overall more shy and bookish, but when it was found that she was a wiz at running the numbers and analyzing trends she was sent to the City of Sin to deal with those who used their arts to skew the odds in their favor. Though the council had little interest in the earnings and losses of the casinos, it is in their best interest to keep things quiet and...even.

Beatrice grew up in a house of wizards, and got an early start on books. She never really interacted well with others of her age, and found that only really books staid her in good company as she grew up. She reads and fluently speaks a number of languages and will read almost anything that she can get her hands on, though her weakness is for philosophical texts and (to her great embarrassment) cheap romance novels.

Her adherence to the laws of the council, combined with her aptitude for swordplay and evocation spells led her to a career as a warden. To this day she still has no idea that, in her training, most of the men were trying to woo her, or that her looks are what has gotten her through a number of doors in Vegas.